Gemini vs Coinbase: Which one is the best for you?

If you’ve learned about the cryptocurrency craze recently and want to get involved, you’re not alone. These digital currencies are proving to take the world by a storm, and it is high time that you invest in these high potential cryptocurrencies. To start your journey into the cryptoverse, you’ll have to purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum or other cryptocurrencies. You’ll also have to ensure that your hard-earned money stays safe in the digital wallet. This is when you’ll have to choose between trusted digital exchanges. Today, we’ll discuss two of the most trusted digital exchanges Gemini vs Coinbase and try to bring out how they differ and which one you can use to start off.

Before you start off…

As a beginner in the cryptoverse, you’ll want to avail a service that’s easy to use. You’ll also have to ensure that the exchange is available in your region or country. You will also have to use a service that charges the least fee. All of these factors influence which exchange rate you’ll be using.

For starters, it is very difficult for people to choose between Gemini vs Coinbase. These two exchanges are the largest and most-trusted exchange facility in the cryptoverse, and they’ve proven the potential for their growth. This is why you must know the complete comparison between Gemini vs Coinbase in order to decide which one is the best for you.

To facilitate your decision making, we have researched through the exchange’s past performance, unique features, transaction fees, user interfaces, the number of digital assets you can buy, security features, the volume of digital currencies and many more to give you a complete idea of the two exchanges. Without further ado, let’s get straight into our Gemini vs Coinbase comparison.

Knowing the two exchanges

What is Coinbase?

Founded in 2011 by Fred Ehrsam and Armstrong, Coinbase is one of the largest and most trusted digital cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Its headquarters are situated in San Francisco, California.

Coinbase offers its users to buy and sell digital assets very quickly and easily. It features a unique user-friendly approach that favors the beginners to the cryptoverse.

As of October 2018, Coinbase has over 20 million active users and has traded over $ 150 billion USD. They also have over $ 20 billion worth of cryptocurrencies for trading every day, which ensures a steady supply of cryptocurrencies and fiat money.

What is Gemini?

Gemini is another highly respected cryptocurrency exchange. This exchange is the brainchild of two of the earliest investors in Bitcoin – the Winklevoss twins. Being founded in 2015, it has its headquarters based in New York.

Due to the strict compliance with existing cryptoverse regulations, Gemini has quickly shot up in the cryptocurrency space to be one of the favorites amongst institutional and high volume investors. It also ensures stricter security measures which ensure that your digital assets will not be stolen by hackers or unknown entities.

Just like Coinbase, Gemini enables its users to purchase digital assets using fiat money which is not found in many other exchanges.

Gemini vs Coinbase: The unbiased comparison

Up until now, we have learned about the two exchanges and how they operate. Let’s now get into the details in the difference between the two and which one you can use.

Exclusive features

Features at both exchanges

Deposits of fiat and cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin and Ether can be bought and sold

Withdrawal in both fiat money or cryptocurrency

The wallet can be stored offline to protect from hacking

Excellent customer support

Bank and wired deposits

Particular features of Coinbase

Simple and instant exchange

User-friendly interface

Other than Bitcoin and Ether, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoins are available as well

Credit card deposits

Available in 33 different countries all around the globe

Particular features of Gemini

Advanced trading options enabling flexibility to buyers

Highly featured user interface

Low transaction fees

Accepts deposits from ACH (automated clearing house)

Available in the US, Canada, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Hong Kong, and the UK

Security Measures

Both Coinbase and Gemini has several additional security measures in order to protect its user’s money and the storage of their cryptocurrency. To do this, they use a two-factor authentication system. This system requires the use to use something that they know (passwords) along with something that they possess (mobile phones) to enter into their accounts. This considerably reduces the likelihood of an account being phished or hacked. There are other distinctive security features for each exchange. Let’s look at a few of them.

Security measures by Coinbase

Sensitive data stored in hardware and is disconnected from the internet

All data is split between paper backups and encrypted USB drives that are located in different locations all around the world

Website information is encrypted in SSL – HTTPS

All data that runs through the system is encryption

Private keys and wallets use AES-256 encryption to protect against phishing and hacking

Security measures by Gemini

They store the digital assets online in ‘hot wallets’ using Amazon Web Services (AWS). The AWS is popular for the intensive security controls.

High-level officials only have access to the storage of coins in hot wallets.

You need multi-factor authentication to access the hot wallet

Hot and cold wallet keys passed through intensive security checks and they store it on hardware

The store data in two levels of cold storage

Hardware comes from different manufacturers to prevent supply-chain issues

Accessing the cold storage requires the verification of multiple employees

All of the sensitive information on accounts have encryption

Currencies of the hot wallets are separate from the company’s reserves and they are in an FDIC insured bank

All the data transmitted over highly encrypted Transport Layer Security Connections (TLSC) such as HTTPS

Even if you don’t understand many of the security precautions, you can clearly notice that both the exchanges take the security very seriously. Coinbase has quite a security measures, but Gemini exchange takes the security a step further. This has put Gemini to the trust list of top officials and huge investors.

If you’re looking for high security, Gemini is probably the best choice you have. You can store large volumes of digital assets on the exchange without having to worry about phishing or hacking.

Deposit methods

When comparing between Coinbase vs Gemini, we must consider the deposit methods into the system. Both Coinbase and Gemini offers its users different ways to put money into their accounts, but Coinbase allows the user a variety of options that Gemini doesn’t.

In Coinbase, the customers can buy their cryptocurrencies using bank transfer, wired connections, and credit or debit cards. In Gemini, you’ll only be able to purchase the digital assets using bank transfers. This reduces the flexibility for users.

The withdrawal, on the other hand, is just the same for both the exchanges. Users can also deposit cryptocurrencies that has support from the digital exchanges.

Fee Structure

When using the exchanges, you will have to ensure that the fees are not that high to burn through your wallets. This will enable you to deposit and exchange huge volumes of cryptocurrencies without having to worry about huge fees on your exchange.

Coinbase Fees

Coinbase charges a standard flat fee for all the transactions under $200 USD. For transactions higher than $200 you have to give a certain percentage of your transaction. Whichever is higher is the actual amount that you’ll need to pay during your transaction.

For purchases made by credit or debit cards, Coinbase charges a flat 3.99% of the transaction. For other exchanges, 1.49% is the charge for the transaction. Bank transfers are free to deposit; however, you’ll have to pay $0.15 for withdrawal of funds.

As for certain countries, there are restrictions on the deposit options to use. In countries like Australia, Canada, and Singapore, you’ll only be able to use credit or debit cards for purchases.

Gemini Fees

In Gemini, they will not charge any fees for depositing. However, you might incur some fees depending on the bank you’re using.

The Gemini fees depend largely on how many trades you’ve done recently. The more frequent you’re trading, the fewer fees you’ll have to pay. There are six tiers representing the amount of Bitcoin and Ether traded per hour. They refresh the data every day at midnight UTC.

Customer Support

If you look around the market, you’ll find only a few cryptocurrency exchanges ensuring full-fledged customer support. Coinbase and Gemini acquire the topmost positions for customer support, and their websites feature an extensive list of blogs or articles that answer to many questions asked by customers.

If you’re in a problem or have a complaint, you can easily contact the companies using email form that you’ll find on the website. You can expect to get the reply within a couple of hours.

The customers can also contact the social media pages for further problem-solving. This made both the Gemini and Coinbase ideal competitors for the best customer support – but there’s no clear winner!

Availability of Coins

Both Coinbase and Gemini offer multiple cryptocurrencies to trade via the platform. But Coinbase has a slight upper hand mainly because it offers the trade of four cryptocurrencies.

Coins available at Coinbase: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin

Coins available at Gemini: Bitcoin and Ethereum

Trading Volume and Market Capitalization

Due to the user-friendly interface, Coinbase trades more Bitcoin than Gemini. Gemini, on the other hand, is for the serious investors who want to get every edge of detail possible.

As of October 2018, Coinbase has just around 2.13 million Bitcoins in circulation which fetches about 11.79% of the market share. The trade volatility is 10.07 while 41.31 trades take place every single minute.

In the same timeframe, Gemini had just around 604 thousand Bitcoins in circulation. It fetched them 3.34% of the total market share. It had a trade volatility of 10.11 while 4.22 trades took place each minute. (source: bitcoinity.org)

Which exchange is more user-friendly?

When judging in terms of user-friendly approach, Coinbase certainly has the upper hand when comparing Gemini vs Coinbase. Coinbase offers an instant option to buy and sell cryptocurrencies on the go. It takes just a few minutes to sign up, update the payment options, upload the currencies to the system and make your first currency exchange.

Although the functionality and the operations in both the exchanges are just the same, Coinbase uses a user-friendly interface with easier and simple exchange systems. This means that new users can easily buy and sell the cryptocurrencies without having to worry about complex mechanisms and data trends.

Gemini, on the other hand, is much more involved that Coinbase. It’s a proper cryptocurrency exchange which offers all the features that an advanced user would expect. It has a clean and clutter-free user interface with all the options clearly stated. It delivers the latest data along with many other features to make it a full-fledged ecosystem for advanced traders.

Conclusion

When comparing Gemini vs Coinbase, we have found out that both are top notch cryptocurrency exchanges. Both have highly secured systems and are quite liquid in terms of digital assets and fiat currency, which makes Coinbase and Gemini both excellent marketplaces for cryptocurrency exchanges.

Coinbase is the go-to place for people who are completely new to this arena and have never exchanged digital assets. Apart from the high transaction fee, Coinbase features a very user-friendly interface that’s simple enough for many to understand.

If you’re a serious investor into digital assets, then you should opt for Gemini. Gemini has one of the lowest fees of all the exchange marketplaces, and consistently having frequent tradings will reduce the fee to a very low amount! You’ll also get advanced insights into the market while getting an extensive and high-secured hot wallet. These have high encryption. They save all the data offline and into cold storage facilities to protect the wallets from phishing and hackings.

So, which one do you prefer? Gemini or Coinbase? Let us know in the comments!

I have been working as a contributing business editor for many publications. My analytical articles and in-depth analysis of the crypto market has been a feature of the business segment of many newspapers. But, my specialized arena is market cap analysis. I have been writing blogs on cryptocurrency exchange and market Cap Information since 2010. My aim is to inform my readers about the different cryptocurrency exchange or brokerage platforms that will help them to get a knowledgeable idea of future potentials.
When I dove into the world cryptocurrency, there wasn't much resource to seek help for. So, I decided to come up with my insight and expertize to help those who want to try their luck in cryptocurrencies. Market cap analysis for well-informed exchange or brokerage platforms is the area that my blog offers helpful tips in.
I have my post-graduation in Economics from Yale University. I have also completed my MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business. I am yet to marry and living in Boston with my crazy dog ‘Bully.’

We’re serious about our favorite activity, crypto mining, we love to call it.
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